#914: SCHLÖNDORFF, Volker: Baal (1970)

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SCHLÖNDORFF, Volker (West Germany)
Baal [1970]
Spine #914
Blu-ray


Volker Schlöndorff transported Bertoit Brecht's 1918 debut play to contemporary West Germany for this vicious experiment in adaptation, seldom seen for nearly half a century. Oozing with brutish charisma, Rainer Werner Fassbinder embodies the eponymous anarchist poet, who feels that bourgeois society has rejected him and sets off on a schnapps-soaked rampage. Hewing faithfully to Brecht's text, Schlöndorff juxtaposes the theatricality of the prose with bare-bones, handheld 16 mm camera work, which gives immediacy to this savage story of rebellion. Featuring a supporting cast drawn from Fassbinder's troupe of theater actors that also includes Margarethe von Trotta, Baal demonstrates the uncompromising vision of its director, a trailblazer of the New German Cinema.

84 minutes
Color
Monaural
in German
1:37:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2018
Director/Writers


Teleplay by Volker Schlöndorff.
Schlöndorff was 31 when he directed Baal.

Other Schlöndorff films in the Collection:

#279: Young Törless (1966)
#192: Coup De Grâce (1976)
#234: The Tin Drum (1979)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

 The Booklet

Ten-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Dennis Lim.

Commentary

None.

Interviews

From 1973 and 2015 with Schlöndorff.

Conversation

Between actor Hawke and playwright Jonathan Marc Sherman about the play and adaptation.

Interview 1

With actor and filmmaker von Trotta.

Interview 2

With film historian Eric Rentschler.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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